Round 2 WAFLW PreviewFriday, February 25, 2022 - 9:07 AM - by Chris Pike

FOLLOWING a tremendous and historic opening round of the 2022 WAFLW season, this weekend looks equally as fascinating with two winners from Round 1 locking horns, two other teams attempting to get their first wins and finally a tantalising Subiaco-Claremont match up.

The 2022 WAFLW season started with a bang last weekend with the competition featuring seven teams now for the first time following the addition of West Perth to the fold.

It was a terrific first round of the season too beginning with Peel Thunder beginning their quest for a premiership hat-trick by beating Subiaco with a goal on the siren in Mandurah.

South Fremantle then made history by spoiling West Perth's inaugural appearance by recording their first WAFLW victory before Claremont made a statement with a big win against last year's minor premiers, Swan Districts.

Now it's time to look ahead to Round 2 of the WAFLW season and it gets underway on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle making their first appearance of the season coming off the opening round bye. 

They will be taking on Swan Districts at New Choice Homes Park with both teams searching for their first wins of 2022.

Next up on Saturday evening at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah it's two winners from Round 1 doing battle with Peel Thunder playing host to South Fremantle.

Then on Sunday to close the round, Subiaco will be playing Claremont at Leederville Oval.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 1

ROUND 1 WAFL WRAP

WAFLW 2022 SEASON PREVIEW

EAST FREMANTLE v SWAN DISTRICTS

East Fremantle enters the 2022 WAFL season at home on Saturday to take on a Swan Districts team not lacking motivation to bounce back.

The Sharks had the Round 1 bye and now will look to start their 2022 season in impressive fashion as they begin their quest to attempt to bounce back from missing the finals in 2021.

However, it won't be easy against a Swans team who were the dominant side of 2021 and determined to rebound from a disappointing opening round loss to Claremont.

East Fremantle has a new coach in Matt Templeton for this season while they have a good blend of experience with leaders like Sharon Wong along with five players in the State 18s – Georgia Cleaver, Nadya Browne, Alli Nokes, Anjelique Raison and Alissia Schmiedgen.

They will be looking for a strong first up appearance for this season at New Choice Homes Park on Saturday.

However, Swans will be determined to hit back after a 52-point Round 1 loss to Claremont where they only managed to kick the one goal.

Swans were the standout team of the 2021 season finishing clear on top of the ladder and then reaching the Grand Final, so a bounce back performance is certainly on their minds coming into Saturday's contest with the Sharks.

There are plenty of changes to the Swan Districts team following the Round 1 loss to Claremont. That includes some big outs including ruck Sarah Wielstra, defender Lauren Osborne and Naomi Baker, Kaylee King and Bianca Webb.

Coming into the squad for Swan Districts includes Tannah Lee, Taylor Pescud, Lani Pigram, Sophie Proudfoot, Hope Ugle-Hayward and Courtney Zappara.
 

PEEL THUNDER v SOUTH FREMANTLE

Peel Thunder and South Fremantle both started the 2022 WAFL season with wins in Round 1 and now will look to back that up when they clash in Mandurah on Saturday evening.

Peel won the premiership last year and South Fremantle went through the season winless to take out the wooden spoon. So on paper this looks like a significant mismatch at Lane Group Stadium, but the Thunder will need to be wary of the improving Bulldogs.

The Thunder began their quest for a third consecutive WAFLW premiership last week with a heart stopping win against Subiaco on home turf when Kira Phillips kicked the go-ahead goal on the siren.

That provided Peel with a remarkable way to start the season but South Fremantle was also buoyed when they made history last week beating West Perth for their first ever win in their third season of the WAFLW competition.

It was a dominant performance by the Bulldogs to hold the Falcons scoreless and to win by 74 points so it sets the stage for a fascinating battle with the Thunder in Mandurah on Saturday evening.

From the Peel team that got over the line at the death against Subiaco, Bella Mann goes out of the team for this Saturday's clash with South Fremantle. Megan Bain, Whitney Benson, Anke Grove and Lily Jetten have been added to the squad.

South Fremantle is coming off their first ever WAFLW victory and from that team that beat West Perth last Sunday, Lauren Gauci, Ella Higgins, Ashleigh Reidy and Kiara Templeman go out of the side this week to take on Peel.

Chloe Boothman, Darcy Clements, Tahlia Dawson-Gibbs, Leila Fotu, Molly O'Hehir, Abby Reich and Aaliyah Ugle have all been added to the extended squad for the Bulldogs ahead of Saturday's clash.
 

SUBIACO v CLAREMONT

There is a natural rivalry that will be renewed between Subiaco and Claremont on Sunday to close Round 2 of the 2022 WAFLW season.

The two western suburb rivals have had some fascinating battles in recent years including the first semi-final of last year when Subiaco beat Claremont. That saw the Lions end up reaching the preliminary final and they were the ones responsible for ending the Tigers' season.

Both teams also played well in Round 1 but only Claremont came away with the win so now the Tigers will be looking to start the new season with two wins while the Lions are looking to get their first victory on the board.

Subiaco did plenty right last Saturday night in Mandurah and led Peel Thunder virtually the whole game, until Peel kicked the winning goal on the siren to snatch away the one-point win.

That was a tough way to lose for the Lions, but at the same time they would have liked a lot about the way they played as they now look to turn that into a win against the Tigers on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

However, it was a mighty impressive performance from Claremont to open the season with them holding last year's minor premiers Swan Districts to one goal on their way to the 52-point victory.

It was a strong Round 1 performance from Subiaco last week despite the loss on the siren to Peel.

From that Lions team, Taylisha Brown and Caitlin Walker go out of the wide this week against Claremont while Madison Dodd, Amy Hunt, Rianna Matulin, Clare McCarthy, Scout McCormack and Jess Pillera have been added to the squad.

Claremont had a big Round 1 win against Swan Districts and from that side, Asa Nowell goes out for Sunday's game with Subiaco while Katherine Bennett, Eva Campo, Jacinta Valentini and Sarah Viney have been included.